chevron stripe/zig zag blanket help

[aimymichelle]

i am following a pattern for a chevron stripe/zig zag pattern. and i'm wondering if it stops curling/buckling a bit and would lay straight without having to straighten it myself? also for whatever reason its not measuring the size its supposed to be in width. any ideas?

[magiccrochetfan]

welcome to the ville

 

What exactly is the pattern?  where can we see it?  if free online give us a link, otherwise tell us the book/magazine/seller and the the pattern name.

 

Can you post a photo of what you have so far?  

[FlossiePotts]

Chevron does pleat itself a bit. Is that what you mean?

[aimymichelle]

no it kinda buckles a tiny bit right off the bat and takes a bit of smoothing. after some research other patterns don't have you do increases and decreases just skipping and doing increases. is that the best way to make it lay flat right off the bat? here is the pattern.

 

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/chic-chevron-throw

[aimymichelle]

it curls/buckles in the corners and it has you decrease and thats where it pooches up which is driving me nuts. but it is smaller than i anticipated by 4 inches. i also don't really want to tear it apart again. but the whole thing is driving me nuts.

[magiccrochetfan]

What yarn and hook size did you use?

 

It really doesnt look very buckled to me.

 

Your gauge may be a little tight. Can you live with it being 4" too small? I think the buckling may smooth out once you wash it. Assuming it is acrylic and can be machine laundred, take it out of the dryer while still damp and lay it out flat to finish drying. You could go ahead and wash it now to see if it smooths out.

[aimymichelle]

its a present. there wasn't any way for me to take a picture of it buckling/curling super well cause i couldn't get close enough. i've noticed most patterns have you skip  chains instead of doing a decrease/increase?

 

i just struggle giving a present i'm not totally happy with the result. so i'm not totally sure what i should do. i used red heart super saver and an i hook.

[magiccrochetfan]

Do you have a lot of yarn ends that aren't woven in yet? If so, lay it out flat and spritz it with water til its damp. Smooth it out and let it dry. If all the yarn ends are secure, throw it in the washer and dry it as i said above. Either method may help with the buckling.

 

I do think you may have had better luck with a J hook.

[aimymichelle]

yeah i did some experimenting and im gonna do a sequence i made up my self. which will work better. i did hear back from the yarn company they said to use a bigger hook also. but at the same time i just didn't like the look of the decreases. so back to square one.

[Granny Square]

I agree, it might behave after washing but it does look like your tension is too tight. If you're starting over try using a J or even a K hook, I don't think there's any need to alter the pattern.  If you're using the RH yarn, it' pretty stiff stuff already, on the heavy end of the worsted spectrum, which makes it worse if you crochet tightly.

[aimymichelle]

so when its telling you to do multiples of such and such number. say 12 is it 6 stitches on each side of the peak? or how does that go?

[magiccrochetfan]

Are you looking at a specific pattern that has that multiple?

I usually think of the st pattern as having so many sts in the decrease and so many in the increase, then so many on each "slope".  

[aimymichelle]

i'm just trying to wing it. usually they say multiple of 11 plus 2 or something. for a chain i also don't like the look of decrease stitches so i want to go the skipping route. but i'm not sure what i should be doing as far as counting goes

[magiccrochetfan]

Are you wondering how many chains to start with so you can swatch your own design?  Just make a chain that is longer than you want the finished piece  to be wide, work across it as far as you want to, and ignore any chains you don't use.  

[Christy.lee1989]

I have also tried a pattern like this where it increases and decreases to make the wave and it also looked just like that. So like u said it might be that. Also make sure u aren't doing them too tight or it will be a little like that also.